The newspaper at my younger daughters' school had a poetry contest. My girls, naturally, entered some of their poetry (although mom had to twist a couple arms...). This afternoon the upper grades held a poetry reading cum awards ceremony for the contest.

The poetry was pretty good, especially given that these are students in 4-8th grade, though they do need to work on their delivery! (they tended to rush and read without much feeling.)

Saara took third place, and Ameera took first.

Even more, the organizer of the contest (the writing and music teacher) told us about the judging procedure... three judges each had five categories in which they could award 5 points, for a total of 75 points. They could each also award bonus points if they felt something about the poem was really unique or special. Saara's poem got a total of 67 points. Second place got 68. Ameera got 80(!), the full 75 plus 5 bonus points. Plus her's was the only poem that got bonus points from all three judges.

Needless to say, I'm as proud as a mother duck.

My own coup of the day... I dressed up in a beat outfit -- black pants and turtleneck, tied the scarf behind the head, a wrist full of silver bangles and a brown suede hipster jacket... One of the girls in my youngest's class stared at me wide eyed and said in a slighly awed tone, "You look cool!"

Wanda Campbell also known as Nochipa
A very gifted poet and a gentle, compassionate soul. Nochipa and I are on the same page on sooooo many things
Writeous Sister
Aminah Hernandez, she's got some excellent latino pieces and always has good writing info on her blog.
Sister Scorpion
aka Leila Montour - Leila is a fount of energy, quirky humor, and bad attitude. She's also a talented poet.Muhajabah
Very interesting commentary here. I don't always agree with her, but her pieces are always thought-provoking.
Georgie Dowdell
Georgie is a great writer and a good friend.
Louise Marley
Another great writer. I think Louise is one of the best sf writers exploring faith themes.
Ink in My Coffee
Devon Ellington (who has numerous aliases) who is also the editor of Circadian Poems. A truly inspiring woman with a seemingly endless supply of energy.
Ethnically Incorrect With a name like that, isn't a given I'm going to enjoy this writer?
Freedom from the Mundane
Colin Galbraith, another excellent writer, from Scotland.
The Scruffy Dog Review
This is a new e-zine with an ecclectic mix of fiction, poetry, and non-fic, some really enjoyable pieces here.
Ramblings of a Suburban Soccer Mom
Lara, another gentle soul, very thoughtful.
Circadian Poems
A journal of poetry, new stuff up all the time.
Ye Olde Inkwell
Michelle writes romance and is one of my writing buddies.
Muhammad Michael Knight
The original punk Muslim writer. Like him or love him, Mike is always coming up with the unexpected.